The De mixtione elementorum of Thomas Aquinas

Abstract

In this article Aquinas’s three accounts of how the elements combine – those of Avicenna, Averroës and Aquinas himself – are considered. An attempt is then made to reinterpret these accounts in the light of our contemporary understanding of the manner in which the modern elements behave in combination. This follows Bobik’s lead in restating Aquinas’s own account of how the Aristotelian elements combine, using present-day insights into the behaviour of the modern elements.